Into The Light
by KatonRyu
Summary: Bright lights flash and a scream fills the air, but its meaning is lost in the screeching of the brakes. The impact is enormous, but strangely painless. Everything turns black. OneShot Jori, Warning for character death


**A/N Right then, here I am once again. I've been absent for a long time and there's absolutely no telling how long I'll be gone after this, but here's something I wrote a couple of days back, while addicted to the song Into The Light by In This Moment. If you know the song, you know how this will end. Anyway, R&R please, as usual. Enjoy!**

**Into The Light**

_Can anybody tell me why we're lying here on the floor…?_

Bright lights flash and a scream fills the air, but its meaning is lost in the screeching of the brakes. The impact is enormous, but strangely painless. Everything turns black.

The world comes into focus slowly, but for some reason it doesn't clear completely. Tori is lying on her back, confused. Her mind is foggy and sluggish, but she realizes the far off sensation of pain; pain that should be much worse than it is.

The implications of that elude her as someone's face fills her blurry vision. Squinting to get a better view, Tori realizes it's Jade she sees. She appears to be saying something, but her voice is muted, as if she's talking through a wall.

Her eyes are wide and filled with horror, and Tori vaguely wonders what could have spooked Jade so badly. Nothing could scare Jade; that was one of the things Tori liked so much about her. She wanted to reach up and tell her friend not to worry, but her arm wouldn't respond.

A feeling of unsettlement came over Tori as she came to the realization that she couldn't move her arm, but it wasn't very strong. Even her emotions were slow and sluggish.

"Tori! Can you hear me?! Answer me!"

Jade wanted to grab hold of her friend and shake her until she replied, but she was afraid that if she did, she might make everything worse.

Everything had gone so fast. One moment she'd been walking home with Tori, the next a driver ran a red light and collided with Tori.

Jade had shouted out to warn her, but there had been no time, and now her friend was lying motionless on the asphalt, only semi-conscious.

Her arms and legs were scraped raw, and a circle of blood slowly spread around her head like a grisly halo.

Paramedics had just arrived and were now examining her, but Jade wouldn't leave Tori alone, no matter what.

People were touching Tori's body, kneading and squeezing. The feeling wasn't pleasant at all and Tori wanted to tell them to stop, but her mouth wouldn't obey her. The only thing she managed was a weak groan. Her mind was a bit clearer but she still didn't know what had happened.

"Tori!" Jade said again, responding to the groan Tori had just emitted. "Are you okay?!"

The question was meaningless, because even a blind man could see she wasn't.

"Miss, could you please step aside? We need to…"

"No! I won't leave her alone! If you try to make me you'll regret it forever!" Jade raged before the doctor could finish speaking.

In her heart, she knew that shouting at the doctors wouldn't help Tori, but she hated feeling so powerless. She looked at Tori again and tears stung in her eyes.

"Goddammit Tori, why you?! Why did you have to get hit by a car, you idiot!" she moaned, sinking to her knees.

_I'm looking deep into your eyes, they're telling me the time has come…_

A car? The thought seemed so absurd to Tori. Of course she couldn't have been hit by a car…right? But even with her clouded mind, she knew it had to be true. Because if it wasn't, why was she unable to move, to speak?

Her body felt distant from her, like it should be hurting like hell, but somehow it didn't, not the way a car accident should. The terror and despair in Jade's voice finally awoke her own emotions, and the thought that now, she might never be able to tell Jade about the things she had come to feel for her caused her world to turn blurry again, this time by tears.

"J-Jade…" she nearly whispered, strained by the effort.

Jade leaned closer to her, the dark make-up under her eyes running with the tears that still streamed down her face.

"I…I lo…love…" Tori's voice gave out and she silently cursed herself and her inability to speak. Her breathing was hard and labored, and Tori hoped it was only because of her attempt to speak.

When Tori had spoken up, Jade's inside had turned into lead. Was Tori really saying what Jade thought she was? If she had said it any other moment, she would have been happy. Okay, she would have sneered and mocked Tori, but in her heart she would have been happy. Now, however, the words were spoken with such finality to them that she lost control of her emotions completely.

Jade wasn't a type to scream out loud with anguish, but the tears just kept streaming down her face, an endless torrent of sadness and frustration.

"Why you…? Why you…?" she whispered shakily, her breathing unsteady from the crying.

Tori was the person who had made Jade more human than she ever thought she could be, or wanted to be, and now that person was broken and bloodied. It all just felt like a sick, cruel joke.

"I…" Tori whispered again, fainter than before.

"Am I…going…to die?" she went on.

Jade looked into her eyes, past the tears, and she saw the fear, the sadness, and also the resignation that lay within them.

_And you turn to me and promise me you're ready, and tell me that you'll be waiting on the other side…_

"No…you can't! Do you hear me?! You can't…" Jade said sternly, trying to keep her voice steady but breaking down again at the end.

Tori's heart stung in a way that had nothing to do with her injuries. "I'll still…be with you…" she said softly, wanting to give Jade just that little bit of comfort.

"Of course you will," Jade replied shakily.

"You'll be alright, and then you and I…"

She didn't finish. The thought of that kind of future was laughably childish now. The paramedics had stopped examining Tori, as if they had given up and were now giving Tori and Jade some final moments alone.

"If only…we could…" Tori said sadly.

Every breath was harder than the last one, but she wanted to be with Jade as long as she possibly could. She'd bring across the love she never admitted to now, as her life was fading away.

Jade looked at Tori, at the beauty that was now marred by blood and dirt, but which still seemed to be there even now. An angel, struck down. Jade would give anything to heal her, to save her…but there was nothing that could be done.

"Tori…" Jade whispered, and she bent down, gently putting her lips to those of her friend, her one true love.

Tori's lips were soft, and Jade felt the slight tremble in Tori's body.

"Don't…forget me…" Tori whispered when Jade pulled back.

"As if I could," Jade replied softly. "I could never forget you…and I will always…always love you…"

As Jade was saying those words, Tori realized she couldn't breathe anymore. She panicked, but then she felt herself growing calm. A warm feeling surrounded her, and her mind faded away as she saw the face of her greatest love before her.

"Tori…Tori…Tori!"

Now Jade did scream, one single outcry of all the sadness and anger inside of her.

"Goddammit, no! Not like this, not like this, not like this!"

Jade wanted to scream more and more, and more still, but then she looked at Tori, and seeing how peaceful she looked, she fell silent. Still crying, she pulled a phone from her pocket.

_And you showed me all the good, and you led me through the light, you gave me the sun, it's time to free you tonight…_


End file.
